Day 58: Cafeteria

[gald_digger]

Anise woke up feeling lucky to be alive. She still felt a bit waterlogged, even though her skin, hair, and clothes were completely dry. During last night's adventures, she'd swallowed a lot of water, and it still felt heavy and disgusting in her stomach. Her arms and legs were tired from treading water. Lying still in her bed, she still kind of

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[bastard_sadi]

Apparently much had changed in the time that Daemon couldn’t account for. He stepped into the Cafeteria - at least the building itself hadn’t changed in the span of a few hours - and looked around, his gaze passing over unfamiliar face after unfamiliar face. Who were all these people and where had they come from? Where was everyone who had been here? Not only did he not see his own companions, but he didn’t see any of the others that he’d met, either. There was no familiar shock of red hair that marked Renji’s presence, or any of his companions, the Shinigami, as he’d called them. There was no sudden appearance of dark brown eyes and mischievous grin and the chaos that normally proceeded River’s arrival. No sight of Ren seated quietly at any of the tables.

In fact, he felt no glimmer of recognition for any of the faces his gaze roamed over. True, the Institute held many prisoners here, but surely someone would be familiar

[see_my_back]

Sakura's eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, but it wasn't because she'd been crying. Ninja didn't cry. Not even when they saw their teammates die right before their eyes. It felt surreal, pulling herself from the stiff bedding, slowly dressing in the clothing provided her, and was marched straight down to breakfast.

Oddly enough, the wounds from last night were gone, as if they'd never been there at all. The bandages removed, the bleeding gone, even the cuts and scrapes themselves were vanished away. How was that possible? Could it have been nothing but a genjutsu after all? The very idea was enough to irritate her further, an angry sort of helplessness rising in her chest. No, she assured herself. I would've KNOWN if it were genjutsu. I would've been able to tell!She paused at the bulletin, leaving a note here and there as if nothing was wrong. They weren't they only ones to lose people, but they were certainly the last ones she'd expected to. All of them were trained since childhood to fight their way out of places far

[bastard_sadi]

[Is wonderful!]

Daemon looked up when someone sat down rather forcefully across from him, drawn rather abruptly out of his brooding thoughts. Which was probably a good thing. Left to his own devices at the moment, his temper was going to snap and he would cause a scene, and the last conflict that had wrecked havoc in this room had him spending the rest of the day sedated. Not an experience he cared to repeat.

Ah, River. He hoped she was well, wherever she was. He wouldn't let himself dwell on the possibility that she wasn't. Thoughts like that would drive him mad. Renji had been visited by former patients who'd vanished. Despite the fact that they'd now believed the lies this place poured down their throats like poisoned honey, that was still a better outcome than falling to the dangers this place offered. As long as you were alive there was still hope

[see_my_back]

A deep voice cut through her thoughts, a painful reminder that even if she felt like ignoring the world until things stopped hurting, the world kept right on going around her. The man, like so many of the other males here, was handsome, warm, and friendly. She didn't smile as she looked up from her breakfast, but she made an attempt, nodding once again.

"It's Sakura," she replied, finally cutting into a piece of pear with her spoon. "Last night was completely awful. I'm fine, but others weren't so lucky."

Others who'd become close to her as kin. Her team was everything to her. The reason she fought to be stronger, the ones who gave her hope and pulled her up, made her want to be a better person. And now one of them was gone. She rubbed her hand over her eye, just to be sure she wasn't crying again as she shook her head. This man didn't even know her. She shouldn't be talking about things like this.

[bastard_sadi]

Daemon was still, regarding her thoughtfully for a moment, his golden eyes intent. "You have my sympathies, Sakura," he finally spoke softly, stumbling over the use of her name and the niggling protest of his conscience. Protocol was different here, and he was slowly adjusting to that.

"What... Might I ask what happened?" He phrased the question carefully. She looked on the brink of tears but was obviously struggling against it. While he might be better than some at handling a tearful female, he was still male and the sight had an uneasy knot coiling in his stomach. None of that showed on his face, however, as he debated handing over his napkin, for lack of a handkerchief.

[see_my_back]

She nearly shrugged off the sympathy; what good did it do her after all? But the man wasn't trying to be trite or uncaring. Sakura let out a sigh and finally took a bite of the food.

What happened? It was a fair enough question, though not one she cared to relive right now. The helpless frustration she'd felt, the tension, and finally, the end of the night, one less of them to wake up in the morning. She swallowed down the fruit, which might as well have been sand for how hard it was to stomach.

"A friend of mine was killed," she said finally, greatly simplified as that was, at least it was enough for the other to understand. Anyone would be upset by that much, wouldn't they? Even if a ninja wasn't supposed to show emotions.

[bastard_sadi]

Daemon's knuckles whitened slightly as his grip about the spoon tightened, pain and regret flickering through golden eyes at her admission. "I'm sorry," he spoke, the words genuine. "Was it... one of the monsters of this place? You're certain they're... I've heard there's been a time or two that patients here have revived from fatal wounds, that they can keep us from..." he trailed off, knowing that it was just as easy for someone to die and vanish here as well. Although witnessing the death of a patient seemed far rarer than it should be, considering the battlefield it turned into after dark.

"I awoke this morning with many of my companions gone as well," he admitted after a moment, his spoon pushing around the strange mixture they'd filled his bowl with this morning. "It is a harsh and painful knowledge."

[see_my_back]

"I'm sure. The rest of us wouldn't be alive if he hadn't-..." she started to explain, but couldn't seem to find the words. One of them had been forced to die, it'd just been a matter of time. A matter of playing right into Aguilar's hands. It made her furious.

After a moment she shook her head. There was no way he'd survived. The ones running this place had seen to that.

"I'm sorry to hear that too," she added earnestly, frowning into her breakfast. Harsh and painful was right. And it sounded as though this man had lost just as much if not more. He understood and... that was enough.

[bastard_sadi]

"Don't think of it in vain, then," Daemon spoke softly, his golden eyes lifting to her face once more. "If he sacrificed himself for you... It does not make things easier for those left behind, but he truly thought much of you, if he would risk himself to protect you." It was an honor, in his realm, but he'd spent enough time here to know that all realms were different. This might not always be the case.

At her apology, he gave her a small smile, inclining his head slightly in acknowledgement. It still hadn't sunk in, he was still feeling numb to the knowledge that he was alone here once more. He kept expecting to see a familiar face and so far had been disappointed. "Thank you," he added, his smile tinged with sadness. "This place... certainly doesn't make things simple for us."